You need to be aware of the context surrounding the words you use. About “toys” used for instrument, the context is very much toxic consumerist-based behaviors with a desire to justify the necessity for high end expensive gear to express musicality and range.
If we define that an instrument is a toy because his range of expressivity (for example) is limited, or because it’s prone to be broken very easily, then I guess we can all agree a 16th Century Clavichord is a toy. Litterally no velocity, hard to tune, breaks easily, limited note range etc. But then the piano, THAT, that’s a real instrument. I’m glad I don’t see anyone making that argument.
Now because a lot of people use that “toy” term to describe tools they consider limited (for their use cases that is, or more likely because they imagine them to be limited) to belittle them in some way, doesn’t mean we should do it too. I would happily hear the logic that you find in the term because I can’t find any. Personally the only thing I notice when someone use the word “Toy”, is a complete absence of clarity and informational value as to what are the limitations of the tool we’re discussing, “Toy” says nothing of the specifics of the instrument being discussed, since it’s a broad blurry and encompassing terms that comes from another realm and is being applied as nothing but a synonym for “not as good as”, which is also not an interesting concept.
So what if instead of toy we said stuff like “This is a device that could use velocity but it doesn’t have it” “This is a device that can only be used through its inner sequencer and doesn’t work well when sequenced from another Volca” or anything that’s an actual information on the limitations involved on one particular product. All the things I’ve just mentionned still don’t qualify the Volca Modular as a toy, or any Volca for that matter.
They’re also, as mentionned above : transportable, easy to sequence standalone, offer plenty of gesture automations that are very enjoyable, well constrained to a feature set that sparks creativity.
I’ve got things that aren’t toys in my studio that I’ve used less than my volcas on my most recent EP, and the Volca pushed me into more subtle and creatively interesting corners at times than a powerhouse like a Prophet Rev2. On another project, with other needs, with other directions, it’ll probably be the other way around.
The Percussionist’s Triangle in the romantic Orchestra is not considered a Toy just because it’s a bent piece of metal that appears twice in the whole Symphony.
Edit : this was my last post about it, I think I’ve talked about it enough and if using Toys to define cheaper more constrained gear means a lot to you do whatever, I don’t have the strength to say more than what I just did.
